a flatheads usual rike

ok wen a flathea bites on your line and your using a cliker will they busaly keep pulling it or do they jerk and stop, ive been missing fish , becouse the cliker wont keep running, with channel cat it just gos , but how do flatheads normaly hit on a cliker, and how can i increas my hook up ratio, id love to tightline but i fish at dark, and with three polls, any bocs here that can realy help me out, i see theres a split preferance betwen tightlining and clikers, i need that big fish, this year, im getting beter all the time but only becouse of all you boc members showing me the ropes, with blues and channels theres no problem hooking but these flats are a challenge, that one in the pic up their was bigger than he appears on the camera he ha a big head, but, im going to tight line with kaels this time on one poll and find out what thes short runs are

Go to any type of Dollar Store. In the Halloween section you will see "Glow Sticks". They are about as round as a thin pencil and 8 inches long. They light up like a Starwars light sabre. Tape them on the length of your rod tip. It can get pitch dark and you will see even the tinyest bite no problem. Fish with a tightline.

When you are running your clicker you will hear all types of runs, the short fast clicks could be a fish mouthing your bait, the "fast rips" of line I find to be the about the best on clickers next to the "slow steady" clicks which IMO are the sounds of a bigger fish that has no problem inhailing your bait without a worry in the world.

the smaller flatheads will make the "shorter faster" clicks because they like to play with the bait more, or just takes them awhile to fit it in their mouth, I do not even get excited on these types of clicks, just be patient, eventually the fish will "mouth it all the way" and make a dash for it.

If you would include more details on what bait and size of bait you are using and I could help out a bit more:wink:

When you are running your clicker you will hear all types of runs, the short fast clicks could be a fish mouthing your bait, the "fast rips" of line I find to be the about the best on clickers next to the "slow steady" clicks which IMO are the sounds of a bigger fish that has no problem inhailing your bait without a worry in the world.the smaller flatheads will make the "shorter faster" clicks because they like to play with the bait more, or just takes them awhile to fit it in their mouth, I do not even get excited on these types of clicks, just be patient, eventually the fish will "mouth it all the way" and make a dash for it.

If you would include more details on what bait and size of bait you are using and I could help out a bit more:wink:

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I agree when a real big flat moves it is at a snails pace( UNTILL HE GETS ANGRY)You will find this out when you get a 40# fish up to the bank or boat and he wants no part of seeing you, and decides he wants to go Home:smile2::smile2::smile2:.

I've had them hit and swallow the bait and just move inchs and set still forever, or untill I stuck the hook into him:smile2:.
Also a big fish will suck your bait in and or swallow it and just set there with it in its mouth untill you wanted to move or change your bait, only to find out that you have a flathead on the hook.:wink:

I agree when a real big flat moves it is at a snails pace( UNTILL HE GETS ANGRY)You will find this out when you get a 40# fish up to the bank or boat and he wants no part of seeing you, and decides he wants to go Home:smile2::smile2::smile2:.

I've had them hit and swallow the bait and just move inchs and set still forever, or untill I stuck the hook into him:smile2:.
Also a big fish will suck your bait in and or swallow it and just set there with it in its mouth untill you wanted to move or change your bait, only to find out that you have a flathead on the hook.:wink:

the short fast ones can also be channels smacking your bait.seems to me i have better luck without a clicker when i am fishing for flats,i usually use some sort of other method to tell if i have a hit or not.i use bobbers a lot with glow sticks,so i see when i do actually get a hit.

I run clickers on my gear and flathead bite lots of different ways. Sometimes you will see the rod tip bump and stop and then start pulling again. Other times the fish will take the bait and start pulling line and never stop. Sometimes they just tap at the bait for a while and then finally eat it. It depends on their mood at the time. The most common bite is a flat will bump it hard and thats when I grab the rod, I then turn the clicker off and wait till the fish finally wants to take off. I follow the fish with the rod tip till he has a good load on the rod and thats when I cross their eyes and the fights on. You also have to account that you could be getting a lot of gar bites and thats why you arent hooking up much. Gar are hard to hook unless you let him take the bait for 5 min or longer. Good luck, even the best catfishermen miss hook ups here and there.

Flamekeeper nailed it, most of my big flatheads hit very slow and alot of them will be on the hook and not know it until you reel in. You know they were hitting it but you dont know there down their already hooked.

i also second what flameekeeper said. but there is no hard rule for a flatheads strike. i have had big and small hit like a rocket, but when its slow and deliberate its usually a bigun. :wink: get the clicker off as soon as possible and thumb the spool till he makes a run then, engage and hit him hard. on rare occasions they will spook from a clicker. in that scenario i will leave the reel engaged and back off the drag so they can take line but the current wont, just like using the clicker without the noise.

well i cant really say here of late all my flats have been running back towards me instead of running back down river so i have been catching them due to the fact that my line has been getting slacked up way to much lol

I have had all types of bites when flattie is on the line. The one thing I have learned is to look for the subtle things. The largest of flats will eat a one pound Bluegill and sink right back into their hole, maybe two clicks. I have had, and watch out, a slow bend turn into a fight on my part to get the rod out of the rod holder. He came up got the gill and laid down right there. I yanked on him for 2-3 minutes before he would move. It was beautiful.......I'm about to cry now:smile2: just remembering. He went 77lbs.......I still stop by his hole from time to time but have not been luck enough to meet him again. Take notice of the little things. Make sure your placing your hook properly so it doesn't bury itself back into your bait. Go get em'!